Two Chinese researchers were charged with smuggling a fungus classified “as a potential agroterrorism weapon” that could decimate crops and impact human health into the US last summer in a wad of tissues,

According to the arrest affidavit, the smuggling was done from August 2022 to July 2024, when Liu was arrested. In the first smuggling attempt, Liu instructed Jian to smuggle the fungus in through one of her pairs of boots, an intercepted WeChat conversation showed.

Two Chinese nationals have reportedly been arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle a dangerous biological pathogen into the U.S., according to Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., United States Attorney. Yunqing Jian,